Ride along Lachine canal, uncertain weather

With uncertain weather I struck out by bike to the Lachine canal and rode west. The first scene was this big tree next to a curvy part of the canal. The tree is perylene green (PBk31) at the bottom, blended with dilute yellow (PY154) towards the top. When dry, bismuth yellow (PY184) and other colours are daubed on for texture. 

Curvy canal big tree, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

Same location looking due south to an overpass highway, and you see the canal with some graffiti on the structure. That's st Patrick street going under the bridge. Its a very complex painting, the perspective on the bridge looking up was key.  

Canal overpass perspective, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

In ville st Pierre an old Truck depot and warehouse complex is on its last legs, as is this old truck trailer. It had a pale rust under-tint with a star shape surrounded by neutral blue. These subtle pastel colours contrasted against the dark green and yellow foliage. By now there was some rain coming down but I found a ledge to stand under and continue painting these scenes.

Star truck rust, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

Similar spot but looking east along a back road, its called Rue Berge-du-Canal and open to the public, although a fairly quiet place it seems a little iffy. At any rate, this squirrel hopped by and I included it in the painting. 

Squirrel backroad, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

Finally time to stop, and paint this stop sign, although I changed the lettering to my name. Using pure pyrol red (PR254) made it pop, and I surrounded the sign with several variations of green to further make the red stand out. In the background you see part of the ville st Pierre highway system. 

Stop blocks bins, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026 

Harley street mailbox, fruiterie, flower field

I've painted this mailbox before, at night in winter, and with a green bin in the scene. Its a good place to stand the weather is bad, or today it was very sunny and I had no sun screen or hat on, so the shade was appreciated. I took on the challenge of super-imposing the mailbox on a large black SUV parked behind on Harley street. The green tint on the windows contrasted with the bright red mailbox, done with pyrol red (PR254). 

Red mailbox SUV, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

Standing across the street in the shade of a large tree, I did another painting of the City Fruterie store with some cars and trucks around. The commuter train was going by, so traffic was lined up along Elmhurst avenue. 

City Fruiterie traffic, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

Finally I took another crack at Harley beach... its an empty lot that used to have a condo building until they tore it down recently. The remaining sand looked a bit like a beach. Today it was filled with growth, including pink flowers from wild clover. Clover grows well in harsh environment and spreads fast, then it gets replaced with grass. The main reason is that clover can 'fix nitrogen' that is, it extracts nitrogen from the air and stores it as biomass, eventually enriching the earth. So what you see here is the beginnings of a restoration of the land. Unfortunately, it will be replaced with a new condo, or perhaps a small park area, regardless, it is still interesting to see nature take its course. 

Harley beach flowers, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026 

Sundown Peel street, signs signs signs

Peel street is a quintessential Montreal street, it cuts north south from the downtown core to the old port and Peel basin. Many glass skyscraper condos line the street along side of older brick buildings, mostly converted to condos. Plenty of commercial space too, including a few neat restaurants. The sun was starting to go down, creating warm colours on the glass facades. 

Sundown Peel street buildings, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

This famous group of signs can be seen at the underground highway entrance near Peel street, along with some vintage pylons including rare orange and green ones. I composed it with part of the large yellow sign, and added my initials to the green highway signs. 

Sign pylon sign, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

Long shadows cut across a wide, stylish brick side walk. The orange person-working sign was in silhouette, as were a row of trees in the middle ground. 

Construction sign shadow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

 

Finally a colourful billboard with the elevated commuter train going by in the background. Of course my initials adorn the billboard. 

Colourful billboard, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

 

Scenes along Robert Bourassa boulevard

I was down on Robert Bourassa boulevard the other day and made several paintings. There are good sight lines there but it can be quite noisy and smoggy after work during rush hour. You see a new condo in the painting on the right, with a rare bright blue sky.

New condo blue sky, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026 

The view due north with traffic driving out of the city, including a city bus. Colourful glass sky scrapers make up the background. For the glass I use variations of blue (PB60), blue-green (PG7), and dark magenta (PV55). 

Traffic Robert Bourassa blvd, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026 

Here is the local cop shop downtown, it is very old fashioned looking with old concrete slabs and a wide staircase. Half the staircase is covered in astro turf for some reason. These doors appear to be sealed shut, at least nobody went in or out. 

Police station downtown, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026 

Out back there are many police cruisers, paddy wagons, parked. Cops were going in and out of the cruisers and driving off or parking. In the background you see the elevated train along Robert Bourassa blvd. Its an okay place to paint but one doesn't feel too safe here despite the presence of the police station.

Police paddy wagon, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026  

Scenes around elevated train downtown

Last year around this time I made a neat painting downtown near the elevated train along Robert Bourassa boulevard, called downtown rush hour. Today after work I headed down to the location by bike, and found a large empty parking lot to stand and paint this scene of a large tree and some remaining sunlight. 

Large tree near elevated train, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

On the other side, looking due south I got another good place to stand, in a triangular shaped gravel field. Plants and grasses were struggling up through the gravel. In the background there is an old A-frame brick warehouse, and behind that, a new condo with a colourful facade. 

Triangle gravel field near elevated train, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

And a scene looking up at the elevated bridge and passing train.  There are more paintings from today, but I will save the rest to post later. With cloud and rain in the forecast there might be less opportunity to do location paintings this week. 

Elevated train bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2026

Home views: back yard

This is the corner view of my parents' backyard, the grass is kept mowed by our generous neighbor. They redid the gardens awhile back, you see the neatly stacked bricks. Behind the backyard is a ravine forest with a large walnut tree.  

Tall shrub corner, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2026

Looking towards the neighbor's house, that's their back deck at the top, you see the small vegetable garden. There are tomatoes, green chives, kale, and a rhubarb pant. Climbing purple clematis are on the left. 

Vegetable garden, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2026

Looking down at these two chairs, with a view of the vegetable garden in the back. When the contractors built the deck they first dug deep circular holes about half a meter wide, I remember standing in the hole and there is a picture of it somewhere. Now you see the posts firmly in place, its a large back deck. 

Two chairs patio, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2026

 

Home views: front yard

We got the chance to visit Mom and Dad in Bolton over the weekend, here are a few of the paintings I did in the afternoons. The first shows some brown eyed Susan flowers in the front garden with some of the other plants and lawn in the background. There used to be a large pine tree that blocked the light here, now the tree is gone and things grow well. 

Brown eyed Susans front garden, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2026

The front patio was leveled off in recent history by my industrious parents. They also redid the decorations so you see the brick-red painted flower boxes and Canadian flag. The plant near the front of the garage is probably lungwort. 

Front patio flag, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2026

Okay its not the front yard but the stairs from the back deck which point up the hill to the front yard. Chopped logs are underneath for the occasional winter fire. I kept the colours warm even though the whole scene was in shadow. 

Logs under stairs, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2026